Janet Lee Skretvedt was born August 27, 1925, the fifth child of Ragna and Even Lee. She grew up and attended school at Gary, Minnesota. On May 12, 1945, during World War II, she put her college education on hold and traveled to New London, Connecticut to marry her high school sweetheart, Gordon Skretvedt, who was in the Navy attending submarine school. They traveled together until his discharge from the Navy. Their family grew to include five children: Ronald Leslie, Craig Bryant, Colleen Rochelle, Meridee Jo and Kristi Lee. As time passed, Craig and wife Patty gave them three grandchildren: Andrew (Jane) Skretvedt, John (Rachel) Skretvedt, and Phillip Skretvedt. In 2007 a fourth grandchild became part of the family when Kristi and Jack Tsahalis adopted eight month old Jackson Carlos. Janet and Gordon became great grandparents when Paul Bryant, Jacob Gordon, and Jillian Claire were born to John and Rachel Skretvedt.

At the start of their marriage Janet began to record their family history as it unfolded using photos and journaling. These albums with their stories, continued to amass through the years and have become Janet's legacy to her progenitors. The family gatherings around the dining room table all the events of her children and grandchildren, their travels both in the U.S., Europe and St. Lucia were all documented and were relived over and over again.

Such a long life is not lived without sorrows. Janet and Gordon were three times bereaved parents. Nothing is so inappropriate as the death of one's children. The diminished family learned about the preciousness of life and love and formed a bond of inseparable unity. Colleen, Ronnie, and Craig live on in their hearts. Janet expressed her emotions in the poems she wrote. She was a voracious reader and a lover of words. Her back yard flower gardens were a source of healing therapy and artistic expression.

On February 1, 2008, Janet wrote the following words in her journal: "I have had many lump in my throat moments in my long life. Each stage of my life is a new frontier, a place I have never been and the journey is exciting. My life has been a constant evolvement as I continue to discover and re-discover the mystery that is God. I have no fear of death. I am filled with anticipation to experience life in a new dimension. In the words of C.S. Lewis, 'At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.' I will meet you there."

Janet was preceded in death by her parents and all of her siblings and their spouses; Alice (Joe) Tarvestad, Ervin (Evelyn) Lee, Orlin (Alice) Lee, Viola (Lester) Sollie, and Lavon (Arlin) Rice. Janet lost her husband Gordon in 2015, four months shy of 70 years together.

Memorial service: 11:00AM on Saturday, August 27, 2016 at Grace Lutheran Church, Ada, MN.

Visitation: One hour before the service at the church.

Interment: Ada Municipal Cemetery, Ada, MN.